Earlier this month, Sega halted the sale of its Yazuka spin-off game, Judgment. Much to the disappointment of its fans. This was due to the voice actor, Pierre Taki, being arrested on a cocaine possession charge in Japan. A country that is very strict about its drug laws and are harsh on offenders of those laws.
Since this incident, there was a concern that the title wouldn’t see the light of day in the West. That was until Sega announced that the game would still make it over to North America. With changes to the model and voice of Kyohei Hamura, captain of Matsugane Family, a third-tier family within the Tojo Clan rank.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the character model and Japanese voice for the character of Kyohei Hamura will be adjusted for the Western release of Judgment, launching on June 25, 2019.
— RGG Studio | Like a Dragon & Yakuza Series (@RGGStudio) March 22, 2019
Six days later this new Judgment trailer was posted by PlayStation. An edited trailer, where the likeness and voice of Pierre Taki being completely removed. Originally the character was shown at the 40-second mark, where his face could be seen for several seconds. Now, while he’s still in there, only the back of him can be seen and very briefly.
Which means that the game is still on track to be released for the PlayStation 4 in the West. We can all breathe a sigh of relief. As for the Japanese sales of Judgement, Sega hasn’t said anything if or when they’ll resume. For the sake of our overseas fellow video game players, we hope they can resolve this soon. From what I’ve heard, Judgment is an amazing game.
